learn2cook

I so agree with the above comment especially the “recovering Type 2 diabetic “ part. Anyone of us past 2 years out is there with you, I know I am. I definitely partook of the holiday cheer this year and I’m so “puffy” right now. I’m concentrating on wellness for the new year. I do look for inflammatory foods that trip me up and eliminate them from my orbit for a while to get back to evenness. (Don’t know what else to call it?) Aside from food and movement changes, I struggle with stress. I noticed if I journal, walk, talk to a friend, goof off on a guitar, extra water weight just falls off. Sometimes I need an extra mineral or vitamin (Magnesium and vitamin D I’m looking at you.) I don’t know if any of this helps, but keep trying. There even could be a metabolic reason behind the weight creep. It doesn’t hurt to ask a trusted medical professional. You are not alone in this.

I was told during the end of the appointment that she would approve me. Then nervous me asked what would have happened if I didn’t pass her evaluation and she said I would be asked to seek out further psychiatric help to get me to safer ground. Either way it’s a win win.

Woop whoop 🙌🏽

Congratulations on your surgery! I agree with @Arabesque , but I might check in on Monday. My reasoning is US doctors take the weekends off and lovely young doctors in training, who do not have experience or specialized training in bariatric care, will possibly put you through 100 nonsensical tests to cover their backsides in case your symptoms are serious. Just keep an eye on your health, but wait if you can, to ask your surgeon on Monday.

I’m stumped but wish you the best and an easy solution!

I imagine this is a very deep and painful experience and wish you full recovery!

Birth control pills and eventually menopause took care of the PCOS for me. I went into vitamin and weightlifting mode in my 30’s to also manage symptoms and preserve child bearing abilities, and that was somewhat successful for me (I did have one child, yeah!) Others definitely have more serious issues and other solutions so there is only encouragement for you to live your best life. I was very undecided about sleeve or bypass but further testing in me confirmed severe GERD. Bypass was the only solution my insurance would cover. In a perfect world I would have chosen DS or mini bypass as a more reliable alternative for more permanent weight loss. I still keep an eye on how my clothes feel, and how my skin looks. I do not lift weights with the vigilance I used to, just a couple days a week to beat age related decomp. I still track vitamins because it’s easy to forget iron or the B’s, or proteins, then my hair falls out (not again!). I think of the changes and tracking I would have to do as a full blown diabetic verses now, and I chose the surgery and health every day. I am so grateful for bypass every, single, day! 2+ years now

By my second week post WLS I had an amazing hankering for ricotta cheese baked into a pasta shell. As a lactose intolerant person, this wasn’t something I normally kept around the house. This thought stuck in my head for days. I finally bought the frozen stuffed shells after reading that ricotta is mostly lactose free, baked it with marinara, and ate the soft inside when it was done. My kid thought he won the lottery and I felt so so satisfied. I never craved it again. It was exactly one ounce of ricotta cheese inside one shell. I did taste the shell, which tasted like wet cardboard, and spit it out, because why bother. The idea is to think about your craving first, then plan it into your week when your body is ready. I find guilt to be a waste of time, we are all messy humans. Slow down and enjoy your craving in small healthy sizes with careful thought.

Kmac1 awesome job! I hope you took pictures and journaled your triumph! You worked so hard for your health! Lily2024 to quote Dory the fish from “Finding Nemo,” “keep swimming!” Your first goal is to get as healthy as possible to ease through the health helping surgery. The surgery will honestly help you lock in your healthy lifestyle. We all need to heal physically from the surgery itself, then slowly build back the strength and endurance. It’s the journey not the finish line. I bet even kmac1 has some other goals to accomplish. Good health and living isn’t a one and done deal. But it sure is nice to celebrate the significant goals achieved. (Because we all know life is hard and it’s the little moments that make it sparkle) well done kmac1!

My preop program wanted me to start right away, and I did. Going cold turkey full throttle was the best thing I ever did. I do occasionally have a sweet now and then, but don’t crave sweets like I used to. That said, you do you. Some people do better going slow.

First congratulations on your life changes and healthy goal achievements! I very much enjoy working out and being active too. Just don’t trust whole heartedly what sport devices say word for word. They are really tracking trends and general steps. They tend to overstate actual calories burned. They also don’t account for older-than-50 bodies that burn calories far more efficiently. Several things could be at play so you will still have to do your detective work. Try talking with your dietitian or nutritionist. You may need more protein. You might be triggering your body into starvation mode too, and need to slightly increase your food intake. Make sure you aren’t coming down with a cold that increases inflammation like Covid. Are you getting 7 hours of sleep per night regularly? Is your bloodwork good? Taking probiotics? I stalled at the same time and found my bloodwork was off. But, I also talked with my surgeon who “walks his talk.” He suggested switching up my workouts. I used to live for the weightlifting high, but only lift 2 days a week now. I do more outdoor activities like rowing, biking, and hiking. Walking with poles burns far more calories. I’ve rediscovered walking with all my daily water in a backpack ups my morning walk too. Two years out I’m still finding my balance of food to exercise and still loosing weight. You’ll find it too.

First congratulations on your life changes and healthy goal achievements! I very much enjoy working out and being active too. Just don’t trust whole heartedly what sport devices say word for word. They are really tracking trends and general steps. They tend to overstate actual calories burned. They also don’t account for older-than-50 bodies that burn calories far more efficiently. Several things could be at play so you will still have to do your detective work. Try talking with your dietitian or nutritionist. You may need more protein. You might be triggering your body into starvation mode too, and need to slightly increase your food intake. Make sure you aren’t coming down with a cold that increases inflammation like Covid. Are you getting 7 hours of sleep per night regularly? Is your bloodwork good? Taking probiotics? I stalled at the same time and found my bloodwork was off. But, I also talked with my surgeon who “walks his talk.” He suggested switching up my workouts. I used to live for the weightlifting high, but only lift 2 days a week now. I do more outdoor activities like rowing, biking, and hiking. Walking with poles burns far more calories. I’ve rediscovered walking with all my daily water in a backpack ups my morning walk too. Two years out I’m still finding my balance of food to exercise and still loosing weight. You’ll find it too.

No reactions for me, but I’m reading too much about how people with a predisposition toward asthma and allergies are getting new food allergies after a virus. I would be more concerned about a severe reaction, especially since it encircled your neck. I hope you find your trigger soon!

I know how truly awful the ulcers and GERD feel like. I’m wishing you a speedy recovery!

Congratulations on making positive life choices for yourself! You’ve really done well!

I take a general glucosamine and chondroitin supplement from BJ’s. It seems to help with joint pain and inflammation because I can’t take Aleve or ibuprofen anymore. It took about a month to feel the difference but between the weight loss and this, I can avoid shots to the knees and surgery a little longer. I still lost significant hair because I do not absorb iron well and that takes some detective work and time to figure out precisely what is going on with YOUR body. My friend who had a sleeve done found out a year after surgery, her hair issue was related to hypothyroidism. You can try all the supplements you want, but you need to be a detective for yourself. Watch carefully which supplements can be taken with what foods and other supplements and medications. My hair came back eventually. I decided I would rather be bald and strong any day over being fat and falling apart.

I take a general glucosamine and chondroitin supplement from BJ’s. It seems to help with joint pain and inflammation because I can’t take Aleve or ibuprofen anymore. It took about a month to feel the difference but between the weight loss and this, I can avoid shots to the knees and surgery a little longer. I still lost significant hair because I do not absorb iron well and that takes some detective work and time to figure out precisely what is going on with YOUR body. My friend who had a sleeve done found out a year after surgery, her hair issue was related to hypothyroidism. You can try all the supplements you want, but you need to be a detective for yourself. Watch carefully which supplements can be taken with what foods and other supplements and medications. My hair came back eventually. I decided I would rather be bald and strong any day over being fat and falling apart.

Your body is your body and you just can’t compare with other people. Thirty two pounds lost is amazing! Did you ever have that kind of success with diets/exercise programs before? There’s no magic time frame. It’s being patient with yourself and continuing your healthy lifestyle that will see results. You WILL get there. None of us got fat overnight, and we didn’t loose it overnight either. Dory from Finding Nemo said, “Keep swimming, keep swimming…”

I love that you kept working at health even though it was hard! That determination is amazing! Please keep us informed on your progress, even if you don’t think it’s progress. I’m cheering here in MA!

Different times of the year I do different things. Like above said, I plan leftovers to take for lunch or snack. Early on I would drink some protein shake. Later I had one oz of chicken or a hard boiled egg. Eggs stay better in the cooler months. This summer I put 1oz of fresh walnuts into a toddler sized food container with whatever blueberries I could get in too. It was my perfect anti-hangry fix. The venison and turkey jerky from Trader Joe’s held hunger off, but also were too salty (for me). Other post surgery folks smoke their own meat (popular in New England where I’m from).

I slowed down significantly in the 7th month after surgery. It turns out that I was very iron anemic. My journey has been to find the sweet spot of eating/exercising just enough but not too much. When I keep my iron levels up I still loose about 1-1/2 lbs per month 2 years out. I’m almost done loosing I think because it doesn’t take much effort to stay where I’m at currently, but I’d have to WORK to get and stay at a lower weight. It’s all about your sweet spot. Keep working your plan, there’s more losses coming, just slower, in fits and starts.

Like @Arabesque I drink water throughout the night too. Every time I roll over or get up to pee. I also flavor it with herbal teas, just throw the bag in like sun tea. I make weekends special with fresh cut fruit or cucumbers in the water. I wouldn’t recommend the fruit or cukes until those foods are cleared. They may irritate the healing places. Early on, I made SF jello and popsicles, everything counts toward your liquid goal. I still love LS chicken bone broth warmed up! Early on, warm drinks were easier to get down.

I’m so sorry this is happening to you. It took me a year to get through all the pre-surgery clearances. I DID feel heard though, I had to wait for healing. Are you being noticed and heard? What clearances have you gone through?

I just went camping for two weeks and we lost power and ice in the area due to storms. We moved on and ordered eggy stuff at Tim Horton’s, sandwiches at Subway (didn’t eat the bread), and burgers at local restaurants (no bun but extra lettuce and tomato). In fancier places I ask to order an appetizer as a meal. No one cares. I ended up dropping 5 pounds. (I think the threat of carnivorous animals being attracted to food in the tent had a big effect on healthy habits too. Sigh, maybe I should be more afraid of the giant rats in my apartment building ;)

Yes, I was like this. I was 53 when I had RNY. I had been period free since age 49 so yippee, then 4 months after surgery I got a “fake” period. I was concerned about the normal concerns, but the Gyn and surgical doctors told me it happens sometimes due to the estrogens being released from fat during weight loss. I was reexperiencing hot flashes and more brain fog. I was experiencing peri menopause all over again for a whole year until my weight mostly settled. I used to get anemic from periods and fibroids, now it’s malabsorption. Weird fact, if you leave the fibroids alone, they eventually calcify. You can see them when you get scanned at the airport for a flight. They make it look like I’m packing bombs and I get flagged for a very thorough search. At least if you can tell the person they are fibroids they don’t freak out over your stomach so much. The women “get it.”